My Own Grey Gardens.

Gibraltar is my local version of Grey Gardens (although there's no one living in it). I have taken to playing the lottery in an effort to win enough money to restore it.

Gibraltar was built by the nephew of Caesar Rodney (of the all-night run on horseback in a thunderstorm to sign the Declaration of Independence and break the deadlock of the Delaware contigent), was afterward owned by another of the Rodney progeny and a du Pont and is currently owned by Preservation Delaware. There is a group interested in purchasing it if they can get the code changed to allow it to be made into a conference center. I do not like that idea. Neither do the residents of my neighborhood. The original plan was to turn it into a bed and breakfast or an inn.

The gardens were originally created in the 1920s by prominent landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin (she also designed the formal gardens at Winterthur). They were restored in 2001 and are cared for by volunteers. The gardens are open to the public for free and are available for weddings and gatherings for a fee.

I also found out through My Grey Gardens that Grey Gardens the Musical will be in Philadelphia May 22 through June 28. Guess who will be going?

Did You Watch Grey Gardens?

I was fascinated by it - by both the house and the women. Here's a photo of the movie house.

Taberandrew flickr

This is a photo of the actual house in East Hampton, NY, restored today.



Here is a photo of the original from the inside looking out.

This photo shows the actual property in its eventual state of disrepair. Posing in front is Edith Bouvier Beale, Little Edie, Jackie Kennedy's cousin.

Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange did a fabulous job recreating the real-life characters from the Maysles brothers original 1975documentary film "Grey Gardens."

Here are some photos of the set interiors. I am in love with the cane chairs and I want desperately to see the kitchen (the only kitchen shot was in the dark at night).

As you can see, this photo depicts years of neglect.

This was the actual photo taken by Sally Quinn (who now owns it with her husband, Ben Bradlee) before their restoration. Mind you, this was after Jackie and Ari Onassis fixed it up so it was habitable. Sally said she touched a key on the piano and it went right through the floor.

The NYTimes has done a few articles on the house. You will want to click here for the link and also look up the slideshow to the Secret Gardener in the lefthand Multimedia column.

After I watched the movie on DVR, I stayed up late watching the original movie on YouTube. You can click here to see it. Additional parts are listed on the right side.

Liberty Post has done quite a few posts on this eccentric couple. Find her recent post here and click various links for previous posts and references. There's a blog devoted entirely to Grey Gardens and its inhabitants: here. Visual Vamp has some great photos and information, here. As well as A Bloomsbury Life, here.

Looks I have some ordering to do on Amazon.